He's My Son
by jessi0129
Summary: It was for him, he was the only thing that mattered in his life, the only person who would never betray him. He couldn't and wouldn't make him suffer because of what happened, it was not his fault.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cool, crisp afternoon as he leaned against his car outside of Stark Tower. It had been a month since he left and he still felt no better about the situation than he did before. Eight years… Eight long years that he refused to believe were a waste, but the more he thought about it the more it just proved him wrong. He had kept in contact with everyone, not all by choice but because he was still an Avenger and worked for SHIELD. He sighed heavily, trying to remember the reason he was here. It was for him, he was the only thing that mattered in his life, the only person who would never betray him. He couldn't and wouldn't make him suffer because of what happened, it was not his fault.

"Daddy!"

The squeal of a 6 year old brought him back to the real world. He grinned at his son as he ran to him. Peter was wearing his favorite black t-shirt with an arc reactor decal, while he clung to his Hulk stuffed animal.

"Hey baby boy." Bruce grinned, bending down and scooping his son up in a giant hug. "Oh, I missed you so much."

"I miss you too, Dad." Peter said, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Oh, hey now." Bruce said, shifting his son in his arms, so he could use his thumb to stop the tears. "No, need to cry big guy. I'm here."

Peter nodded, and sniffed his nose. "You feeling okay, buddy?"

"His allergies are acting up."

Bruce looked up to see Tony standing awkwardly with his hands shoved in his pockets near the door of the Tower. His chest clenched at the sight of his soon to be ex-husband. He still wasn't over Tony, and never would be, in all honesty he wished he could just run into his arms, and kiss him, but he wasn't giving in. Not this time.

"How are you?" Bruce asked, shifting Peter to his other hip, clinging tight to the boy for grounding.

"I'm uhhh… I'm fine." Tony stammered. It didn't go unnoticed to Bruce that Tony's eyes were glistening.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, buddy?" Bruce asked, resting his forehead on his sons.

"Why does Steve sleep where you use to?"

Bruce shot Tony a glare before sighing and answering: "Because, baby. Your father and I aren't together anymore."

"Why not? You guys love each other."

"Apparently not." Bruce said, looking at Tony.

"That is not fair, Banner." Tony hissed. "You can't make me look like the bad guy."

"Oh really? And, what did I do that made you sleep with Steve?" Bruce snapped.

Tony didn't reply. He hung his head and let tears spill down his face. "He left me." He whispered. "I didn't mean anything to him."

"It sucks doesn't it." Bruce said, walking to put Peter in the car. He was in the process of buckling his son up, when he heard Tony walk up behind him.

"I love you." Tony whispered.

Bruce froze, and looked at his sons big puppy dog eyes, before closing his and sighed. "Goodbye, Tony." He stood up, shut the door, and made his way to the drive side of the car. "I'll drop him off on Sunday night." And, with that he got in the car, and started it.

Tony waved sadly at Peter, as they pulled away from the curb. He had ruined everything.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, just tell me why you did it?" Clint asked over the blaring music of his and Tony's favorite bar. Clint had been on a mission for sometime and he and Tony hadn't been able to go get drunk and talk in awhile.

"I don't know, Clint. He had just been so distant and quiet all month. Pulling away, wanting to be alone all the time. I was in need of him. It was killing me, I thought he no longer loved me or something, and Steve was just so comforting and giving me attention. And, I was just so angry with Bruce, I just gave into the moment."

"Mmm…" Clint hummed and nodded, as he took a sip of his beer. "I'm gone three months and you all lose your minds... What month was this?"

"July… why?"

"Well," Clint took another sip of his beer. "I can't believe you two had been together a little over eight years and you never picked up on the fact that Bruce always acts that way during the month of July."

"What? What do you mean?" Tony leaned forward, across the table.

"July, Tony? You know, the anniversary of Rebecca Banner's death."

"Holy shit." Tony whispered, staring wide-eyed at Clint. "What kind of husband, am I?"

"I don't know, Tony." Clint sighed.

"And, Peter? I just tore my baby boy's daddy away from him because I'm a complete and total insensitive prick. Clint, I don't want this divorce." Tony gasped, trying to keep tears at bay. "I gotta talk to Bruce."

"Tony, I don't know if that's-"

Clint didn't get to finish his sentence before Tony was slamming down a few hundred dollar bills and bolting out of the bar.

* * *

"Do I have to eat the green beans?" Peter made a face at the plate sitting in front of him.

"Yes, they'll help make you grow big and strong." Bruce said, taking a bit of his chicken.

"But, dad doesn't make me eat vegetables."

"Well, I'm not your dad."

"Yes, you are." Peter pouts.

"Peter," Bruce sighed, setting his fork down. "Just eat them for me, kay? Daddy's really tired and I just want you to eat as much as you can so we can go watch whatever movie you want."

"Okay." Peter grumbles, finally picking up his fork and starting to eat. Bruce nodded to himself as he watched his son start to chew his meal.

They slid into a comfortable silence, eating their dinner until there was a loud knocking at the door, causing Peter to jump in his seat.

Peter turned to look to where the door was, then looking back at Bruce with wide-eyes. "I got it, I got it. Nothing to be worried about. Sorry that scared you, baby." Bruce kissed his sons head as he got up and went to the door.

When Bruce opened the door he was confronted with a soaking wet Tony Stark, he quickly went to shut the door but Tony stopped him.

"Wait, please. I know, I'm sorry."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you want, Tony?" Bruce sighed as he walked into the living room, leaving Tony to come in and shut the door behind him.

"I wanted to talk to you.." Tony said nervously.

"Dad!" Peter screeched running to his father.

"Hi buddy!" Tony beamed, squatting down to his son, and kissing him on the forehead. "You been good for daddy?"

"Mhm, why are you wet?" Peter asked, patting his dad's dark, wet hair.

"It's raining outside, little man."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, why don't you go see while your dad and I talk, kay?"

"Okay!"

"Kay." Tony kissed his son. "I love you." He said patting his sons butt as he ran to the back door.

"Why are you here, Tony?" Bruce crossed his arms, trying to hide the fact that Tony had melted his heart a bit with his interaction with their son.

"Because, Bruce." Tony said as stood up and walked closer to the love of his life. "I love you, and I know I made a mistake. I was selfish and oblivious to your feelings and I personally destroyed our marriage for absolutely no reason."

"See, I would believe that if it was only a one time deal. I take the fault for pushing you away and not communicating with you, but you continued to sleep with him after I left. He moved into our room only a few days after I was gone."

"How do you-"

"Natasha."

"Right." Tony sighed, running his hair through his hair. "Well, will you at least move back into the Tower?"

"What? Tony, no, I'm not just gonna move back in with you because you come over to my house soaking wet, with those big glassy, puppy dogs eyes, apologizing, being an amazing father, and… telling me… you love me..." Bruce's voice became weaker as he spoke. He swallowed hard, he was falling into Tony again. He could feel it.

"Bruce," Tony whispered, closing the distance between them.

Bruce being one to pride himself on self-control, lost all the control when Tony gave him that look of pure love. He surged forward and kissed Tony. More with teeth and tongue at first, both trying to eat the others face off. Gripping and clawing. It continued for a few minutes longer before Bruce was quickly pulling away and backing up. "No, no, no. I'm not giving into you. You broke my heart, and tore me out of your life without a single feeling of remorse until Steve left you." Bruce sobbed, tears free falling down his face.

"Baby, that's not-"

"Do not call me that." Bruce snapped. "I think you should leave, Tony."

"I can't." Tony whimpered, as he too began to cry. "You're everything to me. You're my husband, the father of my child. I don't want to lose you."

"You should have thought of that before you let him fuck you." Bruce snapped, but immediately wanting to take it back when Tony's lip began to tremble. No matter how mad he was at Tony, he loved him and never wanted to hurt him.

Tony inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to gather as much oxygen as possible into his lungs. But, it didn't help, he broke down into ugly sobs, covering his face with his hands.

"Dad?" Peter's little voice came from the hallway. "Why are you crying?"

Tony turned his head to look at his son, but there was a hand pulling him back to look forward. "He's okay, baby." Bruce said wiping Tony's tears away with his thumbs. "Daddy'll take care of him. Why don't you go pick out a movie to watch, okay?"

"Kay." Peter said, before running to his room to get his dad's favorite Disney movie, Wall-E.

Tony and Bruce just stared into each other's eyes until Peter returned with his movie.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a cool, crisp afternoon as he leaned against his car outside of Stark Tower. It had been a month since he left and he still felt no better about the situation than he did before. Eight years… Eight long years that he refused to believe were a waste, but the more he thought about it the more it just proved him wrong. He had kept in contact with everyone, not all by choice but because he was still an Avenger and worked for SHIELD. He sighed heavily, trying to remember the reason he was here. It was for him, he was the only thing that mattered in his life, the only person who would never betray him. He couldn't and wouldn't make him suffer because of what happened, it was not his fault.

"Daddy!"

The squeal of a 6 year old brought him back to the real world. He grinned at his son as he ran to him. Peter was wearing his favorite black t-shirt with an arc reactor decal, while he clung to his Hulk stuffed animal.

"Hey baby boy." Bruce grinned, bending down and scooping his son up in a giant hug. "Oh, I missed you so much."

"I miss you too, Dad." Peter said, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Oh, hey now." Bruce said, shifting his son in his arms, so he could use his thumb to stop the tears. "No, need to cry big guy. I'm here."

Peter nodded, and sniffed his nose. "You feeling okay, buddy?"

"His allergies are acting up."

Bruce looked up to see Tony standing awkwardly with his hands shoved in his pockets near the door of the Tower. His chest clenched at the sight of his soon to be ex-husband. He still wasn't over Tony, and never would be, in all honesty he wished he could just run into his arms, and kiss him, but he wasn't giving in. Not this time.

"How are you?" Bruce asked, shifting Peter to his other hip, clinging tight to the boy for grounding.

"I'm uhhh… I'm fine." Tony stammered. It didn't go unnoticed to Bruce that Tony's eyes were glistening.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, buddy?" Bruce asked, resting his forehead on his sons.

"Why does Steve sleep where you use to?"

Bruce shot Tony a glare before sighing and answering: "Because, baby. Your father and I aren't together anymore."

"Why not? You guys love each other."

"Apparently not." Bruce said, looking at Tony.

"That is not fair, Banner." Tony hissed. "You can't make me look like the bad guy."

"Oh really? And, what did I do that made you sleep with Steve?" Bruce snapped.

Tony didn't reply. He hung his head and let tears spill down his face. "He left me." He whispered. "I didn't mean anything to him."

"It sucks doesn't it." Bruce said, walking to put Peter in the car. He was in the process of buckling his son up, when he heard Tony walk up behind him.

"I love you." Tony whispered.

Bruce froze, and looked at his sons big puppy dog eyes, before closing his and sighed. "Goodbye, Tony." He stood up, shut the door, and made his way to the drive side of the car. "I'll drop him off on Sunday night." And, with that he got in the car, and started it.

Tony waved sadly at Peter, as they pulled away from the curb. He had ruined everything.


	5. Chapter 5

"Bruce, it's Tony. Please call me, I really want.. need to talk to you. Okay? Just please, ya know. Call me. Alright, bye."

Tony sighed, and scrubbed his face as Jarvis ended the call. It had been a week since the disastrous night, and Tony hadn't heard anything from Bruce, he was honestly getting worried.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Peter squealed as he came running into the living room, a piece of paper flapping in his hand as he jumped up onto the sofa next to his father. "Daddy, look! I drew you a picture!"

"Did you?" Tony took the page from his son, holding it up in front of both of them. "Was is it little buddy? Is that me?" Tony asked, pointing to a red man flying through the air.

"No! That Jarvis!"

"Jarvis?"

"Yeah! Since I donno what Jarvis looks like I just made him Iron Man cause your down here with me and Daddy so you can't also be in you suit, so I made it Jarvis!" Peter screamed in his fathers ear as he bounced on his knees, pointing excitedly at each different stick figure in the picture. "Look see, you, daddy, and me!"

Tony was a blue stick figure with a black smudge on his face which was no doubt his beard, while Bruce was a purple stick figure with glasses, and Peter was a red stick figure with what looked like a disc in his hand.

"What's that, buddy?" Tony asked, pointing at the disc.

"A shield! Like Steve's!"

"Oh yeah?" Tony said lamely, giving his son a weak smile. "That's great, baby. You wanna put it on the fridge?"

"Yeah!" Peter yelled, grabbing the picture and running off to the kitchen.

"Peter don't run!" Tony yelled after his son. He sighed, and held his head in his hands for what felt like hours, but were only a few minutes.

"Incoming call, sir."

Tony's head snapped up to look at the room in general. "Who is it, J?"

"Dr. Banner, sir."

"Bruce?" Tony breathed, smiling to himself.

"Tony?" Tony startled at the sudden voice, not realizing Jarvis had already connected the call. "Tony? Hello?"

"Yeah, yeah. Bruce, I'm here."

"What did you need, Tony?" Bruce's voice sound, rough and slightly annoyed through the speaker.

"I just, hadn't talked to in a week and I wanted to make sure you were okay." The other end of the line was silent. "So, are you okay?"

There was a sigh from the other end of the line. "Yes, Tony, I am fine."

"Are you su-"

"Daddy!" Peter screamed as he ran back into the living room. "Daddy! Is that you!" he hollered to the ceiling.

"Hey, Petey, yeah it's me, buddy."

"Daddy, where are you?" Peter asked as he called into Tony's lap.

"I'm in New Mexico, baby."

"New Mexico?" Peter said the word as if it tasted bad.

"Yeah, New Mexico."

"Well, when are you coming back? Because, dad and I miss you and we want you back."

Bruce inhaled deeply and tried not to let the tears that were threatening to fall, slip. He had spent the whole week feeling as if he had ruined his relationship with his son and that he may hate Bruce for the rest of his life. "You do?"

"Of course, I do silly daddy. I love you!" Peter giggled as Tony smoothed his hair and kissed it.

"Oh, Petey" Bruce breathed "I love you too. You're not mad at daddy anymore?"

"No," Peter shook his head, looking down at the loose string on Tony's pants he was playing with. "I'm sorry for yelling at you daddy, I love you, and I just want you to come home. I'll even eat my vegetables this time."

"Okay, darlin' I'll be home soon, okay?"

"Okay. I love you daddy."

"I love you too, Peter." Bruce smiled. "Can I talk to your dad for a minute though, baby?"

"Yeah! I'll just go color some more! I made a picture earlier of you, me, daddy, and Jarvis! You should see it! Dad let me put it on the fridge!"

"That's so cool. I'll definitely see it when I get back, okay?"

"Okay! Bye, dad!" Peter yelled as hoped off Tony's lap and ran down the hall to his room.

"Bye, son." There was a few seconds of silence before Bruce speaks again. "Is he gone?"

"Yeah." Tony replied quietly. "Bruce, why are you in New Mexico?"

"I'm visiting Betty, Tony."

" I thought she... Right, okay. Well, what did you want to talk about?"

"Tony, I... Well, I... Ya know what never mind. I'll call you when I get back."

"Yeah, okay." Tony whispered, staring down at the blue rug, Bruce had insisted on buying because it 'matched the lamp shades perfectly'. And, of course, he was right.

"Don't do that." Bruce sighed. Tony could hear the head shake he was getting from the man on the other end of the line.

"Do what?"

"Pout."

"Pout!" Tony jumped up off the couch, screaming and pacing. "Pout! You think I'm pouting! Bruce, I'm not pouting! I'm not upset, I'm not sad, I'm absolutely devastated! I don't know what to do without you! I'm dying here!"

"You were surviving without me pretty well when you had Steve in our bed." Bruce snapped.

"Bruce..." Tony whispered, tears threatening to spill.

"Tony, I'm not having this conversation right now. I'll see you when I get back."

"Wait, can you tell me something." Tony pleaded.

"Yeah, what?" Bruce sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you miss me?"

There was long pause that consisted of Tony holding his breath, and Bruce opening and closing his mouth several times, trying to find the right words to say. Eventually, he decided to go with the honest answer.

"Yes, Tony. Yes, I miss you. But, I gotta go now. I'll call you." And, with that Bruce hung up the phone, leaning his back against the wall, as he thunked his head back and shut his eyes.

Tony let out a tearful laugh, and grinned at the small consolation of knowing Bruce missed him.


End file.
